Lift for Life Academy

Bike-based Obstacle Hunt July 20

lift4life — Wed, 29 May 2013 14:06:25 +0000

Uber Asphalt is a bike ride / obstacle hunt where teams of two use bikes, brains and brawn to win beers, big prizes and bragging rights. Starting and ending at Lift For Life Academy on Broadway, bikers in teams of two create their own courses around St. Louis in order to get through six checkpoint obstacles in a race to complete this wild scavenger hunt in under 3 hours.

Upon finishing, each team will receive a New Belgium beer for each bottle cap collected and turned in — up to a 6 pack per rider. (Fitz’s for any under age riders.) And the after party begins. Costume contests, food trucks, beers, bike blender smoothies and live music will complete the day’s festivities.

The sooner you register, the better your rate. A team of two can ride for just $85 by May 31.

http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=2095606

Help us get a greenhouse

Jackie Parker — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:25:08 +0000

Vote for LFLA, today and every day through May 19, so our school can win a $20k grant through Grow St. Louis.

‘Like’ the Grow St. Louis page on Facebook and vote daily through May 19.

Monsanto is working with local nonprofit organizations to help grow St. Louis. Local projects are nominated then voted on by the public, with the Top 5 vote-getters receiving $20k grants from Monsanto.

Owens wins teaching award

hMp44QrX4 — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:38:15 +0000

Math teacher Alison Owens was named Missouri Charter School Teacher of the Year by the Missouri Charter Public School Association (MCPSA), the membership and professional organization serving charter public schools in MO.

Join us at Windows on Washington, May 11 for our Celebrating Success Sewing Seeds Fashion Show, where we’ll be honoring our hero, Alison Owens, at a sit down dinner event. It’s teachers like Alison that help Lift for Life succeed in our mission to be a challenging and supportive learning community where all students are valued and empowered to maximize their full potential as students, citizens, and productive members of society.
Congratulations to Alison Owens for a job well done!

FAQs

hMp44QrX4 — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 07:08:35 +0000

What is a Charter school?

Charter schools are public schools of choice that offer greater flexibility in implementing different teaching methods and philosophies. There is no charge to families because funding comes from state and local tax dollars. Lift For Life Academy is a unique charter school because we are governed by a volunteer Board of Directors made up of community leaders– not by a management company. Every dollar of funding we receive stays at our school.

As a charter school, Lift For Life Academy operates under the sponsorship of Southeast Missouri State Universityto consistently provide an excellent, individualized education.

Who Do We Serve?

Our students live in St. Louis City and come to us from more than 20 zip codes.

The majority of student enroll in the Academy with reading and math skills anywhere from one to three years below their grade level.
More than 90% of students receive free or reduced-cost breakfast and lunch.
93% of students are African American.
Many students move multiple times in their school career; many live in single-parent households and often in blighted urban areas.

Is it difficult to get accepted to Lift For Life Academy?

Charter schools take every student, however we can only take as many students as our capacity allows and classes fill up quickly. We suggest you enroll your student in 6th grade. However, you can find the student application here. LFLA Student Application 2012-2013

Non-Discrimination Statement
The Lift For Life Academy public school district does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices.

How many schools does Lift For Life Academy have?

Lift for Life Academy has a 6-8 middle school and a 9-12 high school on a single campus.

Cohen Featured as Unsung Hero

hMp44QrX4 — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:58:37 +0000

Download the article from St. Louis Jewish Light’s OY! Magazine here.

Another sample post with a slightly longer title

hMp44QrX4 — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:26:51 +0000

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu.

In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus.

Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. Quisque rutrum. Aenean imperdiet. Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. Nam eget dui. Etiam rhoncus. Maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. Nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. Maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. Donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. Nullam quis ante. Etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. Duis leo. Sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. Donec sodales sagittis magna.

Laura Kathleen Planck wins “Project Runway All Stars” design challenge

lift4life — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 18:21:39 +0000

It’s down to five designers as Lift For Life Academy fashion teacher Laura Kathleen Planck won the fashion challenge in Episode 6 of “Project Runway All Stars.”

The episode, “Green Dress for the Red Carpet,” challenged the designers to use eco-friendly fabric for their creations. Laura Kathleen wowed judges Diane von Furstenberg, Isaac Mizrahi, Georgina Chapman and Carolyn Murphy with a flowing jumper made from AirDye double-sided fabric. AirDye is an eco-friendly fabric that is made using no water or power.

Fashion designer Althea, who was already on the ropes, was eliminated from the competition. Catch the next episode at 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, on the Lifetime channel. Laura Kathleen was the winner of “Project Runway” season 9.

And back here at the Academy, we are thrilled to once again have Laura Kathleen at the helm to run our Student Fashion Show, which will be held Saturday, May 11, 2013.

Here’s a link to all things “Project Runway All Stars” including Laura Kathleen’s interview “Challenge winner interview: Episode 6”

St. Louis Jewish Light Honors Marshall Cohen as an Unsung Hero

lift4life — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:33:51 +0000

Read about the amazing work of Lift For Life Academy’s Founder and Executive Director, Marshall Cohen, in this June article from St. Louis Jewish Light’s OY! Magazine.

Read Marshall Cohen Article

Driver’s Education Students are Challenged to Think First!

grayadmin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:29:38 +0000

Our driver’s education classes at Lift For Life Academy are some of the last in the area to be taught, especially free of charge. As part of our dedication to ensuring the safety of our students as teenage drivers, Think First Missouri, an injury prevention program came to speak to our students.

[slideshow id=2]

Before leaving on spring break, our high school students got the opportunity to be inspired and educated by Think First Missouri. They listened as Penny Lorenz spoke about her life and the accident that changed it all. At 17, she was thrown through the windshield of her friend’s car, broke her back in 3 places and was paralyzed instantly. As she talks, a cheerleading picture from her junior year is displayed behind her, and it’s impossible to ignore the chair she’s now confined to.

Penny began by talking about spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries in a matter-of-fact way. She outlined what happens to a brain when it is jolted inside a person’s skull. She explained the anatomy of a spinal cord injury. But it wasn’t until she began to speak about her personal experience and that of others that she works with that the weight of what she is talking about sinks in. You can tell it’s hitting the students as well. They settle down and barely move as she speaks.

She’s outlining the instant that a life changes. Permanently. She talks about Keller, an 18 year old boy who spent 15 days in a coma and had to relearn to walk after flipping his truck 12 times. Two of his friends died in the accident. They had all been drinking.

She talks about Warren who hitched a ride home from work with a co-worker and spent three months in a coma. He hasn’t spoken a word in 17 years and is completely dependent on his mother for care.

When Penny is finished, she introduces her counterpart for this particular talk. Chad Burton died three times on the way to the hospital after he was hit head-on by a drunk driver. He was in a coma for 39 days and doctors had to remove part of his skull for six months. When he woke up he couldn’t remember his parent’s names. Now, 20 years later, he is still mostly paralyzed down the left side of his body.

Chad talks about his struggles saying, “Whatever it takes, you count your blessings and move on.” He talks about learning to walk again. He offers to show the students how he can tie his shoes with one hand and explains that being able to do this was a big deal for him. It seems like such a small thing until he explains that he wasn’t “going back to high school in Walmart Velcro shoes.” You can tell it has hit a chord with the kids. They laugh but they also look a little thoughtful. He’s found a way to connect the possibility of this tragedy to them, to make then think about his injury in terms of their everyday lives.

Hopefully he and Penny have managed to save a few lives as a result.

Alexis Smith

grayadmin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 20:33:55 +0000

Alexis Smith is a smart, polite, fresh faced freshman at UMKC and not so long ago, she was walking the
halls of Lift For Life Academy. Alexis came to Lift For Life Academy as a sixth grader and stayed through
her eighth grade year. We didn’t have a high school at that time so she moved on to Career Academy, a
St. Louis City Magnet High School.

Now, five years after she left, she came back to say hello. This past semester, Alexis took Art, Science,
Psychology, English 110, and Art History. She admits that her first semester at college has been
challenging but expects to see mostly B’s on her report card. She’s proud that she’s been able to keep
up with her English papers, most of which ran about 5 to 7 pages.

Alexis says she likes living on campus, enjoys Kansas City (“It’s just like St. Louis but the fun is more
spread out”) and has made some friends. When I asked about her roommate, she laughs and says that
they got off to a rocky start but now they’re fine. She says that she learned to “deal with different
attitudes” while at Lift For Life Academy; that patience and tolerance have come in handy now that
she’s out on her own.

Looking forward to the next semester, Alexis plans to run track along with completing courses in
Spanish, English, and College Algebra. Her future plans include majoring in Economics but she isn’t quite
sure what she’d like to do with her degree. I suppose that makes her just like most freshmen. What
makes her different is that she is the first in her immediate family to go to college.

We’re proud of Alexis’ success and the part that Lift For Life Academy played to make it possible. It is
simple stories like this that keep us coming back to work with the students every day.